There are many liquids including biological liquids that are separated into components. The components may then be utilized after separation. One example of a biological fluid that is separated into components is whole blood. Conventionally, whole blood obtained by blood donations is separated into its components such as red blood cells, platelets and plasma. The components may then be individually transfused to a patient. It is believed that component transfusion, instead of transfusion of whole blood, may lessen the burden on a patient's circulatory system and reduce possible side effects of transfusion.
Whole blood obtained by blood donation may be centrifuged to separate the whole blood into its components. For example, the whole blood may be separated into a PPP (platelet poor plasma) fraction, a CRC (concentrated red blood cells) fraction, and buffy coat. The buffy coat may contain leukocytes, platelets and red blood cells. Typically, the buffy coat has a large proportion of young fresh platelets.
As noted, whole blood may be separated into blood components including platelet poor plasma, concentrated red cells and buffy coat, which may be stored and transported in separate storage bags. The storage bags may be connected by tubing to create a bag system.
A bag system for storage of blood components may be mounted in a separator device, such as a centrifuge. Depending on the length of tubing, position of bags, and operation of the centrifuge it may be burdensome to position bags and route tubing when mounting a bag system in a centrifuge. In addition, there may be kinking (torsion or sharp bending) of tubing which may affect how the bag system operates during a separation process.
Embodiments of the present invention have been made in light of these and other considerations. However, the relatively specific problems discussed above do not limit the applicability of the embodiments of the present invention.